Did You Myth Me?
by Fearforget
Summary: Garkin's ghost asks Skeeve for help to rectify his mistake of taking away Aahz's powers.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: These characters do not belong to me, and I do not receive any money from it.

Chapter One

"_There are things on heaven and earth—agh, a ghost!_"

—Hamlet's son.

Yes, become one with the energy of the universe, become . . . ah, who was I kidding? All I was doing was practicing that old feather trick. It seemed to me (and I was the one who mattered) that to progress further in my magic training, I should go back. I could practically see Garkin's face, complete with salt and pepper beard staring at me, calling me lemon head.

The feather shot across the room. It was too easy, and I was . . . bored! Yep, you got it, bored out of my head. The whole M.Y.T.H incorporated (trademarked, so don't even think about stealing it) was out fighting a dragon or some crud like that. So, why was I, the former boss and now just an employee (of my own company _I_ created), sitting here playing with feathers?

Because I was too kind. Aahz had said very clearly that the gold that could be earned here was really on the down low, and the people were seedier than he was. If I were there, I'd bleat out some stupid nonsense, and we wouldn't get paid. I swear, even though I am now twenty-six, he acted like I was that dumb kid he had met, the one who couldn't control a feather.

In a bit of anger, I turned the feather into a fiery missile, shooting it to the moon—the ceiling.

"It's nice to know that my teaching wasn't wasted on you," a voice intoned, hollow and low moaning. I didn't know where the voice was, and I, at this point, didn't care. It was something bad. Forget that all my friends were gone right now, and forget that I had set half a dozen wards around this place of business to warn me of any unwanted visitors who weren't extremely powerful magicians (in that case they could have just bypassed those). Its voice was hollow, for crying out loud. It had to be a ghost!

The scariest thing was that it sounded like my old master—I mean, mentor. Garkin? I looked up from the rug I had been lying on, next to a big tub of something that was very cold, but not the same stuff Gus used in his restaurant.

Yep, there he was. Garkin, in the flesh. Oops, I spoke too soon. He was the ghost. Silvery and blue, see-through and floating, but he still looked like Garkin, with that final arrow still sticking in his invisible chest. "A . . . ah . . . hello, Garkin, care for some ice cream?"

Yeah, I was calm, finally! When Aahz had appeared, I had wanted to scream, but now I was calm. It must have been all those years of dodging disaster.

"Uh, turnip head, could you repeat that? I only heard screaming."

Darn. So much for calm.

"What are you?"

"I am now not a part of this life, as you well know, but I have come to the realization that I can not continue on until I have rectified certain actions that I have committed when my life inhabited the physical manifestation of my life."

"Huh?"

"You were never the smartest apprentice," Garkin scowled, showing that even in this weird state he was still Garkin. "In your kind of terms, I died with a stupid practical joke on my record, one that ruined my friend's life. See, Skeeve, I made a big mistake when I wanted to show off to my idiot apprentice who wanted to steal more than see the wonders of the dimensions. That was mistake one. I should have let you choose, one way or another, but I didn't. Mistake two was that I decided to get even for Aahz making me wear women's clothes to be a demon in some backwater dimension made up of only simple mermaids. I wanted the ultimate end, to stop all of it, and I ended up stealing his powers for at least three hundred years. When I died, I was the only one who knew the antidote, and when I woke up in the underworld of all dimensions—I think it was called Endallbeall—the Judge told me I sucked. It wasn't just a simple transgression but a manipulation of how things were supposed to go. I was indeed supposed to die from an assassin's bolt, but Aahz was supposed to feel sorry for you and still take you on as an apprentice, with his full might, and awaken your destiny."

I pondered this for an instant, then thought of something. "Can I ask a question?"

"What's your destiny?"

"No, how do you control that fire ring of yours. Even Massha can't figure it out."

I would have had to dodge a blow if it weren't for the fact the man trying to hit me was insatiable. As it was his cold fist passed through. "You're an idiot, Skeeve. Besides, I wanted that buried with me."

"You can't take it with you," I retorted. "If things had gone another way, stupid Imp assassins would have had it. Just tell me."

"Fine. Still thinking like a thief even after all these years. The fire ring only works if you think it doesn't."

"Well, that makes a sort of sense. Say, why did it take so long for you to come back? I mean, are you aware of how much has happened since you died?"

"I was waiting for a quiet moment, and your life is far from it. I've been watching, Skeeve, and I have to say . . . I'm quite proud of you. You've surpassed anything I could have imagined. When you broke into my hut so long ago, all to check out the brazier I used for my spells, I was sure you'd just be a thief, but to see your care and concern, to see your love for your friends, and your battle with that demon of liquor, well . . . I was wrong."

A warm bubble was happening in my heart. I hadn't realized how much my old mentor's praise would touch me. I had to admit that ever since I had run away from home Garkin had been that father figure for me—one that was an abusive one, maybe, but he still showed his care for me, and that was better than the neglect I had received from my real father, much better. "Gee, thanks, Garkin."

"Don't get me wrong, there is so much you still need to learn. I mean, when I was your age, I had already turned myself into a toad—won myself the heart of a princess, but still."

"I know I need to train, but I haven't progressed as much as I thought."

"Don't worry, Skeeve. Your quest to get Aahz's antidote will help in that area."

I suddenly jumped. I am pretty slow, but I had remembered in his long spiel, he had said something about that. "Do you mean you could cure what you did? That Aahz would be able to do what he could before?"

"Well, yeah. What do you think I'm here for? You have gone too far off track, acting like since you're a part of M.Y.T.H inc. you can just wait for assignments, and forget learning. Don't you know: you can only relax when you're dead, and sometimes not even then?"

"A cure? For Aahz?"

"Yes, I believe I said that twice at least. Now, shut up and listen." Before he could say anything, though, I raised my hand. My wards were being walked through: I recognized them, though. The job must have been finished satisfactorily, judging by the lightness of Aahz's footsteps. If it hadn't he'd be stomping through the floor.

"Your old friend is coming," I said to Garkin. "Want to say hello?"

"I would if I could, but I was allowed only one person to help me that lives. No one else can see me except you, and really you can't tell anyone about it either. The underworld doesn't like the idea of being known about. Secrets are kept in the government even in the afterlife. If you tell anyone, not only will I cease to exist completely, one of your friends will mysteriously die. So, you have to go alone, and you'll have to go soon. I'm sorry. Just . . . walk outside, through the market, and there will be a hole that will appear. Jump in—don't worry about the white rabbit—and it will take you to the next step."

"Sure thing, Garkin, anything. I—"

"Kid, have you finally lost what passes for your mind?"

Aahz was inside. Great, I had been talking to Garkin, so I hadn't realized he was there. Now, he thought I was crazy—check that, he always thought I was crazy, but now he had real proof. "Gee, Aahz, I was just . . . reminiscing."

He gave me a suspicious gold eye. Over the years, he had started to realize when I lied to him—he would say it was when my lips were moving, but I resent that. "What's up?"

"Nothing! How'd the job go?"

"Paid me three times, once to stop me from blabbing about their deeds to the authorities. I wonder how much the authorities will give me for telling on them."

My conscience would have gotten annoyed by that, if it weren't for Garkin's dead form yelling at me to get going. "Good job, Aahz." I stretched with fakeness. "Man, I need to get out. All I've been doing is eating that new ice cream from Bin and Jeery's, and I need some exercise, you know? So long guys," I added, nodding to Massha who had just entered, and Tanda and Bunny who had been already there. Then I walked, and when out of sight ran. I wasn't sure Aahz bought anything I said. And if I could hear his discussion with my friends, I would know he hadn't. Maybe I should have just sucker punched him, like he had once me.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"_Sometimes we all have to work together._"

—M. Vanilli

Aahz

I stared after Skeeve for a few minutes, my all-encompassing brain working well to figure out that he was hiding something.

"Was he mad that we went without him?" Tanda asked, looking at the place he left as well.

"At first, yeah. You saw his look when we all told him we were going and he wasn't."

Tanda looked a bit guilty at the remembrance: it hadn't been easy. "Maybe we should have just told him the truth."

"Oh, give me a break," I said, remembering her insistence of the truth. It had been annoying when we were together, but now it was even worse. "He would have been even more likely to come."

The thing was the dragons were destroying a dimension—that's right an entire dimension, all to draw Skeeve the Magnificent out into a place they could destroy him. They thought he was in the same place as the keepers, the ones who force the dragons to do exactly as they wish: controlling Gleep, all for him to be a servant of his. I had explained, with fists, that he had nothing to do with that stupid theory. That blasted dragon had forced Skeeve to take him, but they weren't listening. If Skeeve had been there, I'm not sure any of us could have protected him, and he wouldn't have been able to do anything, as it's a little known fact that dragons are immune to magic of any form.

It had to be fixed with brute force, and Skeeve never had anything in the way of brute force, and, worse, he probably would have tried reasoning—which would have ended him up in one of the dragons' stomachs. So, a lie was necessary. Of course, he had looked awful hurt.

"He could be still sulking," Massha said.

"His curiosity has always overpowered his sulking. He should have been pestering me with questions of how it went. He has something to do, something dangerous."

"It doesn't have to be dangerous," Massha said, helping herself to the ice cream left behind by Skeeve. I swear, I drink less than she eats—maybe not.

"It's Skeeve!" I retorted. "And he didn't tell us anything. Of course it has to be dangerous."

"Well, handsome, if he doesn't feel the urge to let us in on it, then I guess we should just mind our own business."

"Isn't that what's gotten us into trouble in the first place? I swear, his name shouldn't be Skeeve. It should be trouble." I thought about things again. Didn't Skeeve say Garkin? Why would he mention that old annoyance? And why wouldn't he have finished his ice cream? Any idiot could look around this place and know Skeeve had been bored: with the old fiery feather in the ceiling thing, but something was up. My super keen hearing could hear his footsteps still running through the bazaar, but he had tried to act casual. What could have happened in the last few minutes (the feather was still smoldering) to make him act so . . . well, true to form?

"What's going on?" Pookie said, entering. I gave her a respectful nod, as she had helped when a dragon was trying to bite me in half, but I was still kind of irritated at her. After all the family reunions, and she didn't think I could handle a stupid dragon's bite? Come on. So, to pay her back, I ignored her.

"I'm going after him," I said instead.

"Let me guess, the him is Skeeve, right?"

"Learn your grammar," I retorted. "And don't worry, cousin, but I don't need you this time. If I run across a dragon, then I'll need you. I think I can handle whatever Skeeve's problem is."

The waiting room was getting pretty full, as Guido and Nunzio walked in, and Skeeve's footsteps were getting faint. If I hurried, I'd catch up to him, but I had to hurry. Where was he going? He seemed to be bypassing any stalls or shops.

"Hot Stuff has gone off on his own mission," Massha said, playing with her rings as she, smiling, finished off the ice cream. "But . . . I have a feeling something isn't right. You know, he had the same expression he did when he went to find you, Hot, Green, and Scaly. This mission is . . . personal, I think."

"Then I'm going," I said, getting angry. I remembered too well the guilt (that annoying waste of time) I felt when I heard about Skeeve's almost getting killed just to beg me to hear his apology. "Stay here."

"Sorry, Handsome, but I think we all know what the end of this scenario is going to be, and unless my assassin training is lying to me, we'll soon lose where he's going if we stay and argue on who's coming and who's staying. Who wants to come, raise their hands?"

To my annoyance, everyone there raised their hands, showing how much Skeeve meant to all of us. "Okay fine," I snarled. "Let's go. Funny, why isn't he just teleporting?"

"Let's find out," Guido said. "Nothin' is good when the Boss isn't with us. I mean, why do you think it is we left him out of this particular job? He don't think well."

I took offense at that, as I knew Skeeve thought a lot, too much niceties sometimes, but he was intelligent. And the only reason he'd wander off without us was because it was to help one of us. Why did I get the funny feeling it was me he was helping? I shook off that annoyance, and, even though we just finished a job and were a bit tired, we all shook of the fatigue and followed Skeeve, the man I was pretty sure was going to get me killed one of these days.

Our group followed Skeeve as one, and the Bazaar's many merchants decided that it was the time to try and get us to buy things, even though we obviously looked like we were busy. Maybe that's what they were hoping for, that we'd be so rushed that we'd buy something just to get them off our case. Not happening. I worked hard for my gold, and the only thing I like better is . . . well, nothing. I told that to a Deveel I had up in the air by the scruff of his shirt. The sad thing was he _still_ tried to sell me something, so I just threw him and broke into a run—not to catch up with Skeeve but to get away from what would take forever to avoid.

The stalls started disappearing, as we were actually following Skeeve to the end of the dimension's storefront. It puzzled me. Why would Skeeve come all the way this way? There was absolutely nothing here except purple dirt and cacti, and from all the time I've personally spent here, even I never had a reason to come this far.

"I hope . . .," Tanda said out loud, but she was speaking to herself. "I don't think he would, but . . . he's still new mostly, not like me."

"What's up?" I demanded, not wanting to wait until she felt it was wise to share with me her thoughts.

"I've been through here before. The only thing, and I mean the only thing, down this way is a hole, a portal of sorts, that leads to . . . well, a dimension that's mean. You can't teleport to it, and you can't teleport out either. The only way in or out is that portal."

"So? How bad is this dimension?"

"Bad, bad, bad."

"We've dealt with bad before," Massha said. "Can't be worse than that, huh?"

"Not in this case."

I looked towards her, picking up my pace a bit. I was starting to worry. "Let me guess, there's no force lines to use, so Skeeve won't be able to defend himself?"

"That's not the problem. There's so many, even Isstvan would get bored there."

I sighed, exasperated. Why did she have to make me guess? "Are the inhabitants like on my home?"

"No, in fact, they look and act more like Skeeve than anything else."

"Tanda . . .," I said slowly, not wanting to rip her throat out or anything, but if she didn't get to the point soon . . .

"The inhabitants are crazy!" she said.

"Is that all?" I breathed a sigh of relief. "Everyone I know is crazy, present company included."

"No, they're really crazy. All of them could use magic, but they don't, and furthermore they get angry enough to kill the ones who do. Weapons and technology are the only thing they care about, and almost everyone of them owns a weapon that could tear even through your thick hide, Aahz."

"I don't like the sound of this," Guido said, sharing a look with Nunzio. "Lay it on us, what other things do they got?"

"They can see all the dimensions. They know what we've all done, and they write it down in books, selling them to people who love reading them."

"So, a clairvoyant, magic-hating, weapon-wielding, psychopathic dimension . . . I think I would like to see this, but . . . Skeeve should stay here. Do you really think he's headed this way for that reason, to go there?"

"He is," Tanda said firmly, "and worse, I think someone is leading him there."

This was news to me, as usual. "What?"

"My old training, remember they taught me to see auras just as much as you taught Skeeve. Well, there's a powerful force with him."

"Yeah," Massha spoke up, "I didn't want to say anything, but I saw it, too, but not all the way. It's immensely powerful, and it's leading him right to this crazy place."

The last sounds of her voice were heard, as I have amazing hearing, like I said, but I had already sped up my pace, running far ahead of the lot of them. That crazy Skeeve! Why didn't he just tell us?

I was also wondering how Skeeve could walk so much faster than all of us at full run. What presence was with him must have been speeding up his walking, so even I had problems catching up. Finally, though, at the full-out run I had started, I could see the back of the rapid Skeeve, and sure enough there was the hole. "Skeeve, don't do anything stupid!" I yelled, but it was too late. My best friend, a person I had really grown to care about a lot, had just done the stupidest thing I had ever seen him do—and I had seen a lot—and jumped into a hole, disappearing from sight.

Panting, I caught my breath while the rest caught up. "What is that dimension's name, Tanda?" I grunted out.

"Earth."

"Well, Earth is going to get a big load of Pervect, who is pretty much pissed off right now. All their craziness and weapons won't be enough to stop me from saving my friend. I just hope they don't hurt him." With that, I jumped in the hole myself, with the rest following, but I didn't care if they did or not. This mistake of Skeeve's wouldn't be his last, not on my watch.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"_I must have taken a wrong turn . . ._"

B. Bunny

Skeeve

I expected to fall flat on my face after the long trip through the hole, but I just basically . . . well, appeared. The place did look a bit like Perv with the tall buildings, but the people (I was relieved to see) looked like me. No face altering this time. Where I had appeared was a back alley, behind what smelled like a bakery. It was a perfect mark of how jaded I had become that I didn't want to immediately explore and find out more about this dimension. Later, I would realize it would have been a very good idea to do some reconnaissance on my own, ditching Garkin, but I'm getting ahead of myself again.

"So, Garkin, where do we go? What do I have to worry about here?" I looked for force lines while I talked and almost got bowled over by the sheer amount here. "Garkin! This place is . . . full to the brim. I could hold up a disguise illusion, fly, and shoot a hundred feather missiles, all at the same time."

"Yep, it's amazing, isn't it?"

"Will the natives cause me a lot of problems? I mean with this at their disposal . . ."

"Don't worry about it, turnip head. Most aren't even aware of magic. A lot of the people only use it without knowledge, doing a lot of things, sometimes just sawing ladies in half or pulling white rabbits out of hats. Harmless stuff, really. I should know. I was one of those guys, you see, a long time ago. I didn't even realize I was using force lines, until I fell into the same hole you just came through."

"Wait . . ." I was having trouble getting a handle on this. I had never thought that Garkin had a life before. "This is your home?"

"We need to move on, now," Garkin said, suddenly looking nervous. "Let's walk, and when you see a big, rumbling thing, jump on it, and disguise that piece of paper on the ground like a big blue and white thing with these words on it."

He wiggled his fingers, and on the ground, in the dust (it wasn't too clean in this alley), words appeared: Bus Pass. I did as he asked and walked around the corner. Sure enough a . . . agh!

"What is that?" I asked, hiding behind a convenient bench, on my knees.

"It's a bus. Get on it. Don't worry; it's not as scary once you're riding. Go on! Before it drives away!"

Summoning my failing courage (that thing was larger than Gleep!), I ran towards it and vaulted up the steps, brandishing my disguised piece of paper, and the man inside barely acknowledged it. Then I was sitting, panting from the fear, and holding onto the seat with clawed hands as it roared on. "How can they not know magic but have this thing?" I asked Garkin, who appeared calm, peering over someone's shoulder and looking at a square thing with a bunch of newsprint on it.

"I didn't say they couldn't get in touch with it sometimes. The best inventors and scientists use magic, without paying attention. Anyway, there are more things than what you're doing now, my boy. There are flying things, similar to this, amazing colored lights, and moving rooms that carry you to the top of a building and back down again."

It sounded amazing . . . but I had a funny feeling in my stomach, and I tried to ignore it. It was just . . . why did it seem like Garkin was trying to sell me on it? I decided to bring Garkin back to why we were here at all. After all, I wasn't planning on staying. "Where is Aahz's cure?"

Garkin glared at me but then sighed. "Only one thing on your mind, huh? Fine. We're on our way to it, but it will require breaking and entering into a very important place, okay?"

Great, this sounded like the whole fiasco with that ugly trophy and Tanda wanting to get it for Aahz's birthday present all over again, but that had turned out okay . . . mostly. I didn't want to break into anywhere, but it was for Aahz. How many times had he risked life and limb for me? A wild image suddenly hit me of him almost getting killed to save "me" at the Big Game, and I knew, then and there, I would do absolutely anything to help him—anything. "Where do I have to break into?"

"That big building right there. It's surrounded by that fence."

I looked at where he was pointing. It didn't seem that dangerous. All it'd take was a simple levitation spell, and then I'd be over the fence. After that, it would be simple. I wondered why it was painted white.

The bus stopped, and a whole lot of people got out, seeming to come for the sole reason of staring at this house, while I decided the front door was a little too well seen, so I walked around the back. The place was huge, and I could tell they really didn't want people in, as I could see some of the force lines conglomerating around things that seemed to watch my movement.

"Cameras," Garkin said. "All you have to do is make your illusion spell again, but show you walking off, and cast it at every camera around, got me?"

I did so, once again marveling on how much I could do. When that was done, I flew right over the fence, after covering myself with another disguise spell to make me look like just air—invisible, I should say. My sense was yelling at me, but I ignored it again. There just seemed to be something wrong here. Like . . . why hadn't Garkin told me what the cure exactly was, and why did it to take me breaking into an important place like this, and why hadn't he said he had come from this place in the beginning? It seemed an awful lot like a . . . trap, of some sort or the other. "Uh, Garkin, I . . ."

"Quiet, that window right there. Open it with your levitation. Inside, that's where the cure will be. Imagine the look on Aahz's face when he can fly again, when he can travel without the aid of mechanical gadgets."

I could imagine that pretty good, so I forgot my worries and pushed open the window.

Everything went crazy—red flashing everywhere, and a dozen or more guards came running, holding up weapons (I assumed they were anyway), and yelling at me. I decided to retreat, and maybe come back another day, but suddenly I fell to the floor, force fields gone, and no matter how many times I reached out, I felt nothing, saw nothing, except Garkin's ghost smiling evilly at me.

"I'm blocking you, Skeeve. Sorry about this, but you'll understand someday."

Rough hands grabbed me and started pulling me down the hall, demanding what I was doing there. Lucky enough, I could understand their language, but I remained quiet, because I didn't know what was going on. All I did know was that I was in _deep_ trouble.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"_With friends like these . . ._"

J. Caesar

Aahz

The first sight of this strange and scary dimension was so mundane and boring, I doubted Tanda more than ever. I had expected a bunch of natives to attack me; I had expected a fight, but when I barreled out into the streets, ignoring Tanda yelling that she had to put a disguise spell on, barely anyone even looked at me. The ones who did just asked, "You part of a movie? Anyone in it?"

To my blank stares, they added, "Okay, are you selling something? Not very good at your job," and then the idiot would walk away, disgusted with me. It wasn't normal to see a five-foot, green and scaly man around here; that was obvious, so why did they just avoid looking at me or ask if I was in a movie?

"You're right, Tanda, these people are nuts. They're so complacent they don't even care that something is out of the ordinary."

"Yeah, well, others may be a bit more on the hostile side. So, would you sit still so I can fix it. You make people angry enough without your winning features."

I glared at her, but she had already changed my appearance. I glanced at a shiny window to my left. "Garkin?" I asked. "Why did you give me him?"

"Well, he was the first person I thought of. Don't ask why."

"I already did," I countered, but she, as usual, ignored me. Massha decided to keep her appearance as is, as she looked like people around, basically. So did Guido and Nunzio and Bunny. In fact, only I and Pookie needed anything, as even Tanda's green follicles weren't exactly strange.

Now to figure out where Skeeve had gone off to. If I had my powers, I might be able to track him, but, once again, I had to rely on someone else. Argh! Yes, I am screaming inside my own brain. I do that a lot, ever since I was basically castrated by Garkin. It was frustrating to not be able to do what I once had, but I'd never let on to anyone. Only Skeeve looked a bit on the understanding side about me and my powers. That kid had grown up a lot.

"So, let's find Skeeve. Are there force lines he might have followed?" Bunny asked.

"Finally, boss," Guido spoke up. "I was wondering when you'd say something. You've been quiet like."

"I'm worried . . .," she admitted. "Skeeve . . . I don't know why, but this seems to be a very dangerous mission, and not just because this dimension is so weird. I'm . . . afraid for him."

I didn't want to admit it, but Bunny was echoing my thoughts. There was something wrong in this whole caper, and, worse, we didn't even know where Skeeve had gone off to. Tanda informed us all there were too many force lines to track anything to a single point, and that means Skeeve could be absolutely anywhere. As I watched the people moving from here to there, and knowing that those miles upon miles of buildings only held more, my heart was sinking into my green and scaly feet.

Luckily, serendipity likes me, mostly, and a clue came to us in a weird form: one of the natives waving madly at us. "Hey! Gary, long time, no see, bud."

This, weirdly enough, was addressed to . . . me. "Uh, what?" I said with my normal wit.

"It's been so long that I was starting to worry about you," he continued. I was wondering if this guy was crazy, as his outfit certainly was, a strange three-piece suit-like thing, which was thick, with a weird noose-like thing around his neck, multicolored like a rainbow. His eyes seemed coherent enough, though, and he seemed to recognize me. It took me only a few moments to remember what I looked like. Garkin! This man knew Garkin? My intuition raised its head, demanding more information.

"You know him—I mean me?"

"Come on, Gary, I know it's been a week since you holed up in your house, intent on becoming one with the universe, but you should remember your own neighbor."

"Oh . . . I have amnesia."

"Huh? How could you have gotten amnesia?"

"A tragic accident," I sighed. "I hit my head."

"Repeatedly," Tanda muttered to my side, the rest wondering why I was wasting my time with a crazy local, but something in me told me this had everything to do with Skeeve and his disappearance.

"So . . . um, where do I live?"

"You're not kidding? That's not good. Maybe you should call the doctor?"

"Doctor?" I asked.

"Or go to the hospital."

I was starting to get annoyed, as my question wasn't being answered. "Look, idiot, just tell me where I hang or I'll rip your throat out with my teeth, get me?"

"Okay, okay, sheesh. It's two blocks around the corner, the white and blue two-story." With that, I started running the way he said, my friends having no choice but to follow me. I was a hound, and the scent had just wafted into my nose. It wouldn't be long until I found Skeeve and saved his life—it was in danger, I just knew it.

The front yard of the house was boring, very overgrown, and pieces of paper were sticking out of a box for mail on his driveway, showing that whoever owned this house was as the guy had said.

"Aahz, what are you doing?" Bunny demanded, miffed that I hadn't asked her opinion on this. "Why are we here?"

"There are a lot of force lines here," Tanda noted. "A little more conglomerated than anywhere else, but not by much. It doesn't say anything."

"That idiot was talking to Garkin like he knew him."

"So?" Nunzio squeaked out. "A case of mistaken identity don't mean that Skeeve is here."

"I hate coincidences," I said. "Skeeve said one thing that has stuck in my brain, Garkin, and then this disguise that I have on just happens to attract attention of a local."

"That does stink," Pookie mentioned. "There has to be a connection."

"So, I'm guessing we need to break down this guy's door?" Guido asked with a smile, and then both him and Nunzio did what they did best and caused destruction. The front door was in splinters when we stepped in, carefully, as Pookie had to disarm three magical traps, and Tanda wrestled with a conjured Djin, all to protect this place, and blaringly yelling that the inhabitant of this house knew about off dimension travel.

On guard, as much as possible, we moved on, and that wasn't the end of the surprises. All of us had to use as much skill as possible to get into the inner sanctum. In a very dark living room . . . there was Garkin, alive and well.

I knew it!

His eyes were shut tightly, and his fingers were out to his sides, clutched tightly and, according to Pookie, he was feeding on force lines, doing something he needed to be in a trance for. Something in me _really_ wanted to wake him up, so I decked him, sending him sprawling across the floor.

That did it, and his eyes popped open, seeing me (himself) staring back at him, and I wished I had my normal face, so he could see all of my teeth bared. His beard was a bit more trimmed than last I saw him, and his chest wasn't bloody at all—I'd have to rectify that.

"Uh, Tanda," Garkin said with a charming smile, "and I'm guessing Aahz, my old pal."

"Cut the crap," I said. "What's going on? Where is Skeeve?"

"How would I know?" he asked, getting up and rubbing his jaw. "I was just meditating, minding my own business."

"Wait," Nunzio said, "I thought he was supposed to be dead." He looked shaken, as he had never seen a ghost as of yet.

"Well, the rules are a bit different in this place," Garkin said, still trying to be charming. "In the other dimensions, when you die, it's pretty permanent, but since I originate from here, I just got sucked back, only able to return to the other places with my astral projection. Can I get you guys anything to eat, drink?"

I was growing angrier, because this explained Skeeve's face when we had returned. He had seen a ghost! Well, not really, but that's what he thought it was, and somehow this piece of Deveel excrement had forced my friend to come to this dimension. "Garkin, you know I've never been one for my patience," I said. "Tell me what you were doing talking to Skeeve, and maybe I won't rearrange your face."

"With what power?" Garkin asked with a mocking smile. "Seems to me, I got my revenge on you, and you are now stuck with nothing but brute strength."

"Oh yeah," I said. "Thanks for reminding me." I decked him again.

"Look, Aahz," Bunny said, "as much as he deserves this, it isn't getting us anywhere. Look, Sir, just tell us what you know about Skeeve coming here, and try not to lie, as I will be able to tell. Just tell the truth."

Garkin looked at her, trying to judge whether he had anything to fear from her. "I don't know what you're talking about," he tried, as he must have come to the conclusion that she was harmless.

With a sweet smile, she said, "Guido, Nunzio, break his arms, then his legs, if he continues to think of me as just an idiot. Then, cut his ears off, after that his tongue, then maybe we'll go lower."

Garkin seemed to reconsider his position. "Alright, keep them away. I just talked to Skeeve, and I might have mentioned something to him about how great this place was, and he wanted to come, so he followed me here, and then he left. That's all."

"Okay, break his legs," Bunny said. "I hate liars."

"Stop!" Garkin said quickly. "I guess you know what you're doing. What are you, a mob boss?"

"In a way," I said, ignoring her glare at me. "But you don't want to mess with her. Come to think of it, you don't want to mess with anyone here. I may not have anything but brute strength, but Tanda, Massha, and my cousin could make your life a living hell, in the magic circuit, and the brute strength category could still make you in a lot of pain, as me, Guido and Nunzio will show you. So, fess up, old _friend_. What have you done to Skeeve?"

"Okay, just don't judge me too harshly, alright?" Garkin said, looking scared. "I missed my old apprentice. Before the assassins stopped me from coming to your dimensions in a physical form, I had a pretty nice life with Skeeve. He was a good apprentice. You know he wanted to be a thief? I changed his life, treated him like my son, and then I lost my physical form, and lost him. You took him on and trained him, in a bad way. Look at his problem with the drink!" he accused, rounding on me. "It's all your fault. Just because your system could take it didn't mean a Klahdish could as well. He became obsessed with it, relying on it to solve his problems, then fighting it off like only he could. But it wouldn't have happened if you hadn't been such a sot in the first place. Then, all the times he almost died! You are a disgrace as a magician!" Garkin drew himself up proudly, as if he had a right to say all this to me.

Sad thing was . . . he did. A lot of what happened had been my fault, but I would be damned if this traitor would see what he said had hit me as hard as I decked him. "Well, maybe if I had had my powers, I would have been able to teach him better," I said with a dangerous smile. "How do you know all this anyway? You were dead."

Garkin grabbed a shiny book and tossed it at me. "It's all written down. This is one of the first volumes. People here can see your dimension, and they write about it. Not all of us can see it, though. Only special ones can, and they make money off of it."

My ears rose at that, money, but there was more important things to be done than think of money, or wonder why I looked so odd on the front of that book. "This doesn't explain why Skeeve is here, though."

"Well, I wanted him back to being my apprentice, so I could fix what you did wrong. He may be on in the years now, but he still has a lot of learning to do, and I will teach him all of it, as long as you guys stay out of it."

"I am losing my patience," I barked, advancing on him. "Where is he? And what did you say to him to get him here?"

"I lied, telling him he couldn't tell any of you or else you'd die," Garkin admitted. "I also . . . well, told him I had the cure for your condition, Aahz, if he came here."

Everyone looked angry at that. Of course! That was the only reason Skeeve didn't at least give us a clue on where he was going. A good cause, and wanting to protect all of us, Garkin couldn't have lied better.

"What cure?" Pookie demanded, making me glance at her. Did she actually care? She sure seemed to. It reminded me of when we were a lot younger, and she always watched my back, before we had started fighting, as all of us Pervect families are supposed to.

"I . . ." Garkin wasn't answering.

My heart jumped. Was there actually a cure in this dimension? I mean, the Deveels had sure never heard of it. It made sense if this was where the cure was.

"Answer the question," Massha ordered, playing with her rings.

"I won't," Garkin said. "My revenge is more important."

"You slimy piece of . . .," Pookie said.

"Hold it," I said. "I'm used to being without, thank you so much. The question I want to know is, where is Skeeve?" I was yelling by the end, as that was the one thing Garkin seemed to want kept hidden as much as the damned cure.

"I don't know," Garkin said honestly. "I left him when he got captured by the secret service. They have him somewhere, and sooner or later, the hole you came through will close. I would suggest you just forget about him and go back. Only a week remains, and if you're here when it closes, you will have to wait at least a hundred years before it re-opens. That's okay for you, Aahz, and Pookie, but the rest will be dead. Trust me; you do not want to get stranded here. When it closes for good, I will find Skeeve and keep him safe. You have my word. Just go home."

There had never been a single time in my life before that I had been this angry, so much that my scales were puffing up. Leave? Forget Skeeve? Save my own hide and run? Garkin was crazy.

"Alright, you've told us what you think we should do," Bunny said, interrupting what would be my total eruption. "Guido, Nunzio, you take Garkin here and keep him on ice until we find Skeeve, and are sure what crimes Garkin's responsible for. Pookie and Massha find out what kind of cure could be here for Aahz. That will leave me, Tanda, and Aahz to find Skeeve. Once you're done with your jobs, except for Guido and Nunzio, who will already be waiting for us, meet up at the hole. If no one is there, get back to our dimension before it closes for good, no matter what."

"Sure thing, boss," Guido and Nunzio said, and, though hesitant, Massha and Pookie agreed.

"Hey," Garkin said, "I will hurt your two thugs if you leave me with them, you know."

"Really?" Tanda said with a purr. "And why haven't you done anything as of yet? Aahz has decked you twice; Bunny here was threatening you bodily harm, and we have all trespassed on your sanctuary. Yet, you have done nothing at all. My guess is that since you died in another dimension, here you can only bring up barrier defenses, nothing important, which means Guido and Nunzio have no more to fear from you than the average kitten, am I right?"

Garkin didn't answer, but it looked like Tanda had hit the nail right on the head. To think, after he cursed me with no powers, he died and came back here to have only limited skills! Ha, justice does exist! It's no wonder he wanted Skeeve back as his servant.

With all that settled, we went to do what Bunny told us to do. The only clue we had to go on, unfortunately, was that Skeeve had broken into somewhere important and had been dragged off to an unknown location.

Well, one thing I am good at is breaking laws. It should be easy for me and my pals to be captured and taken to the same place as Skeeve. It would be fun!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"_The truth is in the eye of the beholder._"

B. Clinton

Skeeve

I was now stuck in a little white room, wondering why I was so trusting. Sure, Garkin said there was a cure, but did he give me any proof? No! So, why did I listen? I am a trusting sort of man, that's why—or an idiot. I still couldn't use my magic, as whatever Garkin had blocked me with was still here, but I'm not sure it would do any good anyway.

My hands were bound by a strange metal contraption, behind the chair I sat on, and three guys in black suits were watching me. They kind of reminded me of Guido and Nunzio, so I made the assumption they were some kind of bodyguards. Only one of them was questioning me, and as of yet I played it pretty dumb, which was easy for me.

"Alright, blondie, I'm going to ask again, and this time I want an answer. How did you get in to the White House?"

"You actually call it that?" I asked, surprised. It was an accurate name, I guess, but a little obvious.

"Hey," he said, trying to gentle his tone, "I am your friend here. My name is Barry, what's yours?"

"Skeeve," I said, not buying his nice guy routine. Maybe it was because he hadn't let me go yet, when I hadn't done anything.

Barry blinked a few times, then said, "Okay, Skeeve, now tell me what you were doing, okay."

"Trying to find a bathroom," I said innocently.

"Look," Barry said, now back to yelling, "I am trying to be polite with you, but if you had some kind of plot against the president, then you'd better come clean. We can send you to a place that's nice, or a place that isn't. Talk."

I decided the dummy act wasn't getting me anywhere, so I decided for the truth, even though I'm not sure these guys could handle the truth. "I am a magician, named Skeeve the Magnificent. My mentor Garkin, the ghost, lured me here, and I thought it was for a cure for my friend Aahz. I have nothing to do with the president, and I used my flying magic to get over the gates, my illusion to get past the cameras, and the same to avoid detection as I got in through a window. That's it. I mean you no harm."

Barry would have smiled, but I think it might crack his face, so all he got was a grimace. "You have read those Myth books a little too much," he said. "And if you were a magician, then why did we capture you?"

"Garkin blocked me!"

"Yeah, sure." He rubbed the bridge between nose and forehead. It seemed I was annoying him. "There is secret service watching the grounds at all times. How did you get past them?"

"I already told you. I used my disguise spell. It's one of the first things taught when Aahz took me on as apprentice. It fools the eyes into thinking whatever it is you want. I made myself look like air. Then I flew in. Unless you had guys in the air, it'd be pretty hard to catch me."

"Do you have any allies? What were your intentions had you succeeded in getting past our guards? Is the president at risk?"

I sighed. Truth didn't work, as usual. "The only ally I have or had, I should say, is Garkin, who has vanished." I suddenly felt how alone I was here. "I wasn't planning on hurting anyone."

"Where is this 'Garkin'?"

"I told you, he's a ghost!" I was starting to get annoyed. I had never been very patient with people yelling at me. "Why don't you listen to what I've said? What, are you deaf or something?"

"No, I'm not deaf, but you sure seem to be crazy! Do you not realize you're not in some book? This is real life, not fantasy. If you don't start cooperating, you may have charges put on you for trying to assassinate the president of the United States. Do you have any idea how serious this is? Or are you still going to stick with your story life?"

I was suddenly sick of this guy, and him saying I was a liar. "Maybe you're the one in some book," I retorted, getting to my feet and facing him right to his nose. "My life is real, but maybe in my dimension yours would be fake, just a story. Get your arrogant head out of your butt and imagine a little different."

Barry just glared at me for an instant, then saying, "Alright, fine." He turned to the guys behind him, with an "I give up" expression. "This guy seems to be crazy, so I guess we'll stick him in a cell by himself, until we can figure out how he bypassed security."

Once again, I was pulled around, put into a strange four-walled room, one having bars, and I just sat there, trying to figure out what to do. There was nothing, though. "Face it, Skeeve," I told myself, "your trusting has now gotten you into one of the worst predicaments ever." I sighed, wishing that Aahz was here. He had always saved my butt before, but this time it seemed I was on my own. My old mentor didn't even know I had gone, because I stupidly had told no one, not even hinted at it! If I died, I'd die alone, in a strange dimension of people with too many powers who don't know how to use them, who think of me as a character in a book. Me! If I wasn't real to them, would they feel any guilt about killing me?

Desperate now, I closed my eyes, probably for the hundredth time, to see the force lines, which would tell me that my powers were back. I opened them again. I had only seen pale lines—wait! I had seen nothing before. Closing my eyes again, I stared around the room. They were there and coming back.

Garkin wasn't blocking me anymore! First things first was disguising my self to be invisible. Then it was time to blow the bars apart. I used the same thing as I did to fly, but this time I put the pressure against the bars, bending them out of my way. Then I crept down the hallway, passing other cells. At the end was this door with weird buttons on it, and no doorknob. Once again, I used my force to break it open, but then sirens started up, and I started running, even though I was invisible.

I wanted to get out of this dimension and back to mine, listen to Aahz lecture me about trusting old friends, and just put my feet up, and scratch Gleep behind his ears, while I forgot that this place ever even existed.

It seemed, though, that those guys that were in that small office hadn't just left me in the prison, going back to their lives. They had been positioned outside, probably to catch my accomplice, the ghost, if he had tried to visit me. Hey, if they could, more power to them! I wouldn't mind catching Garkin myself.

The prison was alive with guards, and I tried my best to not get bumped into. It seemed I was going to get away after all.

Then I heard the same guy who had questioned me, Barry, asking where I went. "I don't know, sir. He's just gone. Like he just turned invisible."

Barry muttered under his breath, but I was only an inch away from him, trying to skirt past. "Maybe he wasn't lying about being invisible." Then he broke into a bark of a voice, "Get the infrared goggles!"

I didn't want to know what those were, so I broke into a run, reaching out for force lines to fly out of here. I kept glancing back, and I saw Barry now wearing this strange contraption on his head, and he was . . . looking right at me, as I tried to fly away. Problem was, I never had much in the way of speed when I flew, so he was easily able to run alongside under me, yelling, "Freeze! Whatever you're doing, stop it, and come down, now, or I'll fire."

Those were ominous words, but I wasn't going to come down, no matter what! A loud noise erupted, and suddenly pain exploded in me, much like the sound had been loud, and I lost all force lines. It wasn't surprising, considering I was losing consciousness as well. The last sight I saw, before the ground hit me painfully, was red blood falling unhindered out of my stomach.

"Get him to the hospital," Barry said, to my failing ears, "but keep a guard on him, including one in his room. I want to know how he turned invisible and could fly, what technology our enemy has over us. This . . . Skeeve will have to answer a lot of questions—if he survives."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

"_Cures are a girl's best friend."_

Typhoid M.

Massha

The others may not like this dimension much, but I really fell in love with it when I found out what kind of food they had. Everyone seemed to like it very much, like me, and some people actually devoted their lives to making sure it was the best it could be—which also made it the most fattening. I certainly didn't mind!

Pookie, however, was a lot leaner, and she didn't like anything other than Pervish cooking, which, I tell you, is nastier than nasty. "Why are we not trying to find the cure, instead of staying here and stuffing your face?" she asked.

"Honey, everyone knows that you get more information out of the local tavern than anywhere else."

She made a face at me. "I'm not sure this qualifies," she retorted. She had room to talk, as those Pervish restaurants made this place look like a four-star restaurant!

"Watch and learn," I said with a wink. "Hey!" I yelled to a passing young man. "My friend needs some food."

Pookie raised her illusionary eyebrow. "I thought you wanted information."

"Yeah, but we need both of us full and not hungry to dive into this stuff. It won't work if you're starving, and I can hear your stomach rumbling from here."

The young man came over to our table, and asked, "What does she like?" 

"Well, worms and bugs and such," I teased, knowing that wasn't exactly true, but the young man shrugged.

"Well, the restaurant about two blocks from here has that kind of fare. No one I know would eat there, but the long grain rice kind of looks like insects, and the whole-grain noodles taste pretty bad."

Now, that sounded like Pervish cooking! It must have been a business from there or something, even though I didn't know what long or whole grain was. I knocked Pookie across the shoulder, who looked as if she was considering hitting me back but then reconsidered it. Maybe the prospect of a meal cheered her up. Neither of us knew what a block was, so we took some time finding out, but then we found a much better looking place than where we had been a few minutes ago. It was clean as a whistle and strange music was playing. Pookie breathed in when we got inside, but it didn't smell, to me, like her kind of food, as it smelled actually good.

"Well, it doesn't smell right," Pookie admitted, "but it doesn't smell like the stuff on Klah either, so I'll risk it. I won't be like my cousin and drink my way through the dimensions."

So, we got shown to a seat around an oval table, and Pookie just ordered what the guy had said. Minutes later, it was brought out, and it did look right, though it wasn't moving. Pookie dug in, and looked like she enjoyed it.

"So, female, green, and scaly, what's our first order of business? A cure has to be sold somewhere, right? Hey!" I said, with sudden insight. "It's probably magical, so all you have to do is check the force lines. From what I've learned, even magical items leave an essence somewhere, like looking across a gulch. You'll see a glowing. That'd be a great place to start, hey?"

Pookie, now finished with her meal, smiled, and I stopped a cringe. She was very similar to Aahz when she grinned. "Good idea." She closed her eyes, then, blinking, closed them again, and opening them with shock.

"What?" I asked excitedly. Finally, a way to go!

"I . . . can't see the force lines." It took me a few minutes to finally notice what I had a few seconds ago but didn't think about. Her disguise was gone!

And, worse, the patrons were noticing.

"Pookie," I hissed, as I always am calm in the face of danger, "take this ring and concentrate on a new image. Hurry!" She looked panicked—okay, she looked concerned, but that's the closest thing you'll get to seeing her panicked. She did as I told her, and the people blinked a few times and then went back to their meals. "What happened?"

"I don't know . . . my powers are gone. I've been trying to levitate, throw fire balls, and see the lines, among other things, but I'm . . . like Aahz."

I heaved a huge sigh, which on me is something, realizing that this escapade had just gotten more dangerous. Suddenly, I panicked a bit. I had a small amount of real magic, thanks to Skeeve's tutelage: I just liked to use mechanical more. What if I had lost mine as well, though? With a gesture, I lit the tablecloth on fire. Nope! I'm fine. Good. Now to turn the thoughts to Pookie. What had she done that I hadn't? 

The food! I had been so stuffed with the food from the other places I had just watched Pookie eat. "You've been poisoned," I stated, and Pookie already had the same idea. That's why she had the waiter up by the throat.

"What did you do to me, you little monster?" she said, shaking him.

"N-nothing!"

"Why did you poison me? Are you working for Garkin?"

"W-who? I don't know—ow!—what you're talking about!"

"Pookie, he's telling the truth, I think. He didn't do anything." I heaved another sigh, and braved myself for maybe something very stupid, and took a big bite of the food she ate. Once again, seconds later, the tablecloth was on fire. I put it out, and then asked the waiter, still in Pookie's tender clutches, and he ate it fine as well. It hit me. It wasn't poisoned at all! It must work differently on Pervects, same as with Aahz. It was Earth, this was the dimension that Garkin had gotten the "joke powder", but I don't think whatever Aahz used against Isstvan, and cohorts, was the same thing. After all, I knew of a cure to that stuff, had given it to Aahz at one point, but it hadn't taken. I had never considered this until right now.

The long and whole grain had taken away both Pervects' powers!

Pookie finally let the waiter slip to the floor, as she did the same, only to the seat. "What am I going to do?" she asked. "I have only relied on those skills of mine. I feel deaf and blind now."

"Hey, you!" I said, nudging the waiter's side with my toe. "If someone was poisoned by this food, what would be the antidote?"

"This is very healthy, Madame," he said, looking pointedly at my stomach, both of them. "I think you'd know what could cure it. Junk food."

"What's that?" I asked.

"Ice cream, chips, donuts, candy bars, you know the stuff that'll send you to an early grave."

Now, that sounded promising! The Pervect dimension has that exact motto somewhere in its books: we will send you to an early grave. I couldn't think of a better cure.

Pookie didn't share my enthusiasm, but I didn't let that stop me, even as I asked where I could find all these things. The waiter sneered at me (which made me not sorry anymore that Pookie had left claw marks in his throat), and said, "Around the corner, but maybe you should go into Weight Watchers."

I was used to cracks about my weight, so all we did was leave, as he tried to stop the table from burning. I was getting good at fire.

Around the corner, was what the waiter had called a convenience store, and it had all the things that I could only guess was what he had said, so I grabbed an armful, putting the bulk into my ring that could carry stuff like that. I didn't much feel like sitting around in here checking things on Pookie, as the man who was behind a counter was already staring at us. The problem was, we didn't have any Earth money anymore (Pookie had disguised pieces of paper before), and I didn't really care if we ripped off anybody, not when so much was at stake, so we just walked out.

Seconds later, a bunch of those weird machines had pulled up, flashing blue and red lights at us, and then people put strange metal contraptions around our wrists. I quickly cast a disguise spell on my jewelry (built in!—I love machines), so that all they looked like was folds of my fat: I saw the way those men in blue uniforms were staring at them before. I wasn't going to have them stolen, and though I hadn't cared about stealing from these people, I didn't want to murder any of them, and that would happen if I used my jewelry to get away, so I'd wait and see what they wanted with us.

Unfortunately, Pookie hadn't had a ring that could hold all her stuff (only the disguise one that had followed my other jewelry's lead, becoming apart of her finger), so her hands were full of stolen property when we had left. This just wasn't her day.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

"_I'm innocent!_"

Any prisoner, any jail, at any time.

Aahz

It was easier than even I expected to be thrown in jail. All we had to do was talk wrong to one policeman and bam, there we were. It reminded me of home. The only problem was, they separated us. I had thought they'd throw us all in one cell. That's what they do everywhere else, but here, for some reason, the women and men had to be separated. Now, I was back to my full scaly and green glory. If the Earth people saw me, they'd either do what they had before or . . . who knows? These people were very unpredictable.

It wasn't likely they'd see me, unfortunately, as they had just ignored me ever since throwing me in this room, and then the disguise spell had failed. Now, I was debating whether to just break out and try breaking the law again or see if Skeeve was here. This place was huge, though, so it would take some time. Once again, I cursed inside my head. If I had my abilities, it'd be easy to find Skeeve's aura, but now I'd either have to wait for Tanda to do it or Bunny to come for me.

This wasn't the way I had always operated, you know. I was, minus the small parts of time I was with Garkin and Tanda stopping Isstvan, a solo operator. Then I found out it wasn't so bad being part of a team, but sometimes I wonder what exactly I brought to it. My brains, sure, I was the most sneaky and underhanded, but . . . what else? I wanted my powers back! Suddenly, I wished I had hit Garkin harder than I had.

Would Pookie and Massha be able to help me? A small hope was burrowing into my head. If I had my powers back, I could help Skeeve easily—maybe I could teach him again, instead of him teaching me. Life would be good. I tried hard to squash that back down: there was no proof my cure was here. Besides, there was a more important thing to be done, and wishing for things wasn't my forte. I am a man of action.

"Alright, sir, you've had the time to stew for a while," a voice came, as the door opened. "As long as you leave here, and sign this, stating you will leave on your own recognizance, you are free to go. Just don't annoy any more officers, okay." The man hadn't looked up as of yet, too busy signing a piece of paper. Great, even when arrested there was paperwork here.

Then his eyes fell on me, and finally I got the reaction I had expected. "What the hell did you do to yourself?" he asked, horrified. "Is this a reaction to some drug you're on?"

"Nope. This is what I look like. I am a demon from Perv, and the last sight you'll see unless you tell me everything I want to know."

"A demon? From hell? You associated with the devil or something?" He seemed amused, not afraid. Maybe I should show my smile. That did it. He quailed and backed up.

"Yes, I know quite a lot of Deveels, thank-you." It was time to use what I usually did to scare locals. I grabbed him by the neck, and brought his face right next to my grinning teeth, which has made people faint. This guy was stronger than that, and he just gulped a few times. "Where is Skeeve? He was arrested earlier, and I want him back, got me? I don't want to eat your throat out, even though it'd be fun, so work with me, okay?"

"Skeeve? That lunatic that broke into the White House?"

"The what?" But I was thrilled. This guy knew where Skeeve was!

"It's all over the news. Let me go, and I'll show you."

I knew that tone. What he meant was, "Come with me out to where I'll have a lot of backup, and you'll be thrown right back into this little room." I was a lot smarter than that. "No, how about, I hold onto you, and you tell me where to go."

"This way," he said, shaking, and pointed me out to the outer room, where his friends saw me.

"Back!" I said. "Don't make me break your friend's face." Though a lot were getting ready to jump me, they listened, and the guy in my chokehold showed me to a black box that had images in it. A woman was talking, and showed the face I most wanted to see. Skeeve!

"He was taken to the hospital, and is in critical condition. The question of how he broke in is still unanswered, and the secret service have said no comment to any statement."

"Critical condition? Hospital? What does that mean?"

"Well, this Skeeve tried to escape and got shot."

My heart went into my shoes. "By an arrow?"

"No, what the hell gave you that idea?" The guy seemed to think I was an idiot. "He got shot by a bullet. He's not expected to live."

I don't know when I started running, but I still had the guy in tow, and I threw him in the same thing that had brought me here, and said, "Take me to this hospital, now! My threats were fake before, but now I mean every one. If he's dead when I get there, you will be, too."

That gave him enough fear to go quickly, putting those sirens on. My heart wasn't beating any longer, I don't think. Could Skeeve already be dead?

We pulled up to what could only be the hospital, and I ran inside, ignoring the police officer now, and a bunch of those wailing cars that had followed us. I was quick enough to lose anyone. This place was as big as the other, so I just listened to all the sounds in the hospital, the beeps and speech, crying and whimpering. I finally heard the word Skeeve, so I ran towards that spot. There was a guard, and he saw me coming, but his reception wasn't the same as the people's that had gotten out of my way as I barreled in here. His was . . . recognition?

"I don't believe it," he said. "What, um, what is your name?"

"Aahz, idiot. Get out of my way. Skeeve is in there, isn't he?"

"He was telling the truth. This is unreal . . . oh, sorry. Look, my name is Barry," he said. "And the doctors are in there."

"So what? I've got a lot of police on my tail. I don't care whether there are more inside."

"Doctors aren't . . . never mind. If you're in trouble, you . . . look, just hide in here, okay? Trust me. You don't want to get shot as well. Here." I didn't have any other recourse but to listen, as he shoved me into a closet. Besides, I . . . trusted him. He was looking at me like I was his best friend, so a friend wouldn't lie. And, sure enough, when the police who chased me came around the corner (I saw it through a crack in the door), this guy, Barry, ordered—that's right ordered—the police away, saying I was in his custody now. Then the men in blue left, and Barry opened the door.

"The doctors have gone, too. Skeeve's in here, but he doesn't look good." Then I went into the room, to see a horrible sight, something a friend should never see: Skeeve was covered with tubes and looking pale; his eyes were shut tightly. "I, um, shot him when he was flying overhead. I'm afraid I was trained to shoot to kill."

"You shot him?" I asked, too horrified of Skeeve's condition to even feel the anger I normally would have.

"I didn't know! I didn't know he was who he was, or who would come after him. I loved your books. I grew up with them. The whole Myth gang, you know?"

That explained his reverence. It seemed that when the people here saw our lives, they fell in love with us. "Is there . . . I mean, can he recover?"

"They're not sure. He needs blood, but they can't find a match."

Once again I cursed mentally, but this time not because of my own selfish reasons, but because if I had my full skills I'd be able to run some magic back into him, like blood, and that would keep him alive long enough for his real blood to be restored. But now . . . I needed Pookie. Maybe she could help.

But, I wouldn't leave Skeeve's side. I guess I should have told the others where I was going. "I could heal him, if I could just find Pookie." Then an idea came to me. "Barry, you have a lot of clout here, right?"

"Yeah, a fair bit."

"Can you get people out of prison for me? And tell them where I am and to contact the other team to get them here as well?"

"That'd be pretty easy. I'll go right now, and . . . Aahz, it is really nice to meet you for real." He gave me a childish smile, and then looked professional again. "I'll get it done quickly. I'll also tell the doctors to leave Skeeve alone for awhile." Then he was gone, and I pulled up a chair next to my friend, hoping that Barry would hurry.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

"_Trust no one._"

M. Theresa

Guido

You know what the worst part about being a bodyguard when your on a job? You just have to sit around and wait at a lot of times. The big wigs were right now doing a lot of stuff, while me and Nunzio get to sit and watch a has-been magician whine. This Garkin had been doing it a lot, begging for us to let him go, but as many people know begging isn't something we listen to at all.

That didn't stop him from continuing, then going on to bribes when his whining failed. Bribes? Like we would take it from anyone other than our own? Garkin really was stupid.

"Maybe we could just kill him," Nunzio squeaked. "I mean, he did go after our former boss."

"That aint our orders, cuz. Just put down a card." Bored as we could be, we had resorted to playing Dragon Poker, using the conditional modifiers of the fact that we were in another dimension now.

"Dragon Poker, huh?" Garkin said, trying to get comfortable, for the first time his words not begging for us to let him go. We were tired of him trying to run, so we had tied him up from neck all the way to feet. It was a little gratuitous like, but we felt he deserved it. "I remember when me and Aahz played it. I won, of course."

"I love this guy's modesty," Nunzio pointed out.

"Hey, it's the truth. Why deny it?" Garkin asked with a shrug. "Of course, it helps if you know all the rules, like I do. There are spells that allow the complete absorption of anything you read. I've used them all. Did you know there were rules that made you win automatically if it was the right time?"

That raised my interest. It would really help against the Deveels on Dragon Poker Night if I had something like that. So far, they had beat me and Nunzio's brains in with their winnings, and, let me tell you, Deveels are worse at demanding the money for gambling than with haggling. I'm pretty sure I hadn't lost my firstborn son (if I ever had one) last time I played—at least I think so.

Garkin sighed. "If I wasn't in these bindings I'd show you how to play. I have never lost a game, you know? If you're worried about me escaping, let me remind you of something I think you missed. You're both a part of the Mob! If I ran, I wouldn't get five paces before one of you plug-uglies tackled me and 'taught' me how to not escape."

He had a point there, and I really wanted to know what could make me win at Dragon Poker so . . . I untied him. I know! Many of youse out there are saying I'm a moron, but what could one guy do against two from the Mob?

In fact, he was nice enough as we let him out, sitting down at the makeshift table we had set up and asking to be dealt a hand. "Alright, see guys? I have two monkeys, which means if either of you have a dragon, and breast your cards then I win automatically."

"Really?" Nunzio said. "I had that last week, and that one Deveel wouldn't stop breasting his cards. I could have taken him to the bank! Aw, man."

Dragon Poker is actually very entertaining on its own, but when you have a master (one that might have been able to teach the Kid a few things) teaching you how to play, it becomes downright amazing. For the next hour, we were relaxing with Garkin, and he even stayed nice when Nunzio went to the market around the corner to get us something called beer, and we all hung out like old friends. I could see why Aahz had once liked this guy. He was funny and interesting, telling all these old stories, some which were true and others which were the biggest fish story you could find, but they were engaging.

In fact (I hope the readers don't think less of me), I kind of forgot that we weren't friends with this guy, just waiting for the others of our group to come back. We just kicked back, played Dragon Poker, drank, and shared tales.

I was feeling pretty warm and friendly with this guy, and he didn't try to escape at all. In fact, he drank too much, and in a few more minutes, he said, "Guyssh, I think I want to falls, fallen, fall asleep now. Do you think I could? I don't want to be disturbed. I am so tired. I mean, you two are supposed to watch me."

"Hey, come on, we are somewhat friends. You aint so bad, you know what I mean. If all you want to do is fall asleep, we can continue the game without you," Nunzio said.

"That'sssh all I want to do, fall asleep, close my eyes and just sit against this here wall, cross my legs, and keep my hands up like this." He closed his fingers together and leaned like he said. He must have been pretty drunk, as I couldn't see how anyone could fall asleep like that, but he just conked out, eyes closed shut, and he started snoring mightily.

"He's not such a bad guy," I said. "Maybe we could argue on his behalf if the others want to punish him. I mean, all he wanted was Skeeve back. We've all seen how special our former boss is."

"Yeah," my cousin agreed. "He's harmless. Look at him, asleep like a baby. What's he muttering anyway?"

"Just drunken ramblings," I guessed. "Come on, let's finish this game. Maybe the others will be back here soon."

But they didn't come back by sunset, and Garkin was still out cold, so we just grabbed some boxes to sleep in and took turns watching our comatose companion. He was curious, to say the least, as he kept on saying things like, "Alright, where is he now . . ." and "He won't be a problem without his powers." I'm guessing his dreams were bothering him. Something didn't seem right about that, and I kept a close watch on him, but he wasn't doing anything. No matter how much my discomfort grew, I wasn't about to just bash this guy's head in when he was sleeping. Besides, he had been so friendly. Even if I didn't have a gentle soul, I'd be feeling bad about beating him up.

I felt a hand of fear grip my heart. Had Garkin been manipulating us? Call me paranoid, but I went over to Garkin and peered at him closely, wishing I could see if he was doing anything, but he was just sleeping: that's all I could see. Magicians somewhat freak me out, ever since we first saw Skeeve come in and not even touch us to knock us out cold. There was no way of telling if Garkin was casting a spell on us or just sleeping. I mean, Aahz had pretty strange sleeping habits, as he slept sitting up. That wasn't anything compared to this vampire named Vic, who slept upside down from the rafters. And Tanda? She slept on beams above the floor.

With that, I appeased my mind. Garkin wasn't doing anything besides sleeping weird. We were doing our jobs, and the others would be back soon. Why did that icy hand of fear stay gripped around my heart then? Why did I feel I was aiding an attempt against my friends?

I ignored it, as Nunzio awoke and took over the watch, and I fell into troubled dreams.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

"_Chocolate, eaten in moderation, can be good for you._"

W. Wonka

Massha

The snacks on Earth really tasted good. You wonder how I know this? Well, ever since we got put in the jail cell, I had been helping Pookie try to get her powers back, and whatever she snarled at and threw at me, I enjoyed. There were all kinds of things from salty to sweet, and I pulled them from my ring, handed them over to Pookie, and she ate. Nothing was helping as of yet, though, except to help my stomach feel full.

We had figured that this place was as good as any to find out if these snacks would do what they should, and we wouldn't be interrupted with all the prison bars around.

"Anything?" I asked, starting to feel nauseous. They may taste good going down, but they certainly feel awful just sitting there.

"Nothing, except the realization that if I lived on Earth I may have to kill someone," Pookie responded, not in the best of moods.

"Just a little more," I cajoled, even though I was sick of the junk as well. I rummaged in my ring and pulled a bouncing and enlarging bar out, which was labeled Snickers. "Try this. So far, it isn't like the others."

"I hate you," Pookie said but dutifully took the candy bar from me. "This isn't bad," she admitted. "But I don't think it's doing anything. That's it! We're cursed, me and my cousin and any Pervect who tries to leave home. We have to be very careful, because if not, some prankster or health nut will try and steal everything we are. It's too dangerous. And that's coming from a bodyguard who willingly puts herself in harm's way to save others. It's over!"

Her anger brought a nice sight, after I built up my shield defense with one of my rings, as fire ran through the cell. Her powers were back! "What did it, greeny?" I asked with a huge smile.

"This!" Pookie said, smiling herself and hugging the wrapper. "Take back everything I said. With a cure, Pervects are safe again!" Then she smiled larger. "Just think what Aahz will do once I give him this. You do have more, don't you?"

"Six bars, I believe, but first we have to get out of here."

"That is easy."

Minutes later, rubble was outside our cell, with the door fallen over from the explosion. "That was fun," Pookie said, dusting her hands off. "Wait . . . what are you doing here?" she asked, looking at two approaching figures. Bunny and Tanda had heard the explosion and exited their own cell, somewhat the same way.

"We got purposely thrown in here, and now we're waiting for news on Skeeve. What about you?"

"Shoplifting charges," I said with a shrug, ignoring Bunny's incredulous look. "It's a long story, but we may be able to get thick, green, and scaly back to normal again—well, his normal not ours, as we're used to it."

"That's the best news I've heard in a while," Tanda said, looking happy. "Let's go tell him. He's . . ." She closed her eyes and then cursed. "Gone. That idiot left us behind."

"Um, my guess is that you are M.Y.T.H. Inc.?" a man said, and we all spun around to see a native looking at all of us like he had died and gone to heaven. "I'm, um, Barry. Your friend, Aahz, wanted me to let you all out. I see it wasn't necessary, but the ones outside are calling it a bomb for now. If, however, you aren't gone when the bomb squad comes on the scene the S.W.A.T. team may replace them. So, this way."

"Wait, where is Aahz, and can we even trust you?" Bunny asked.

The guy grimaced. "Well, trust isn't likely, as you probably all will hate me when you find out what I did, but Aahz is with Skeeve, and he needs Pookie—now. Hurry."

Without any reason, we all followed this man, cramping into his car (me worse than the others) and allowed him to drive us to who knew where. We took him on faith for two reasons: one was he seemed like he was in love with every one of us and like he'd never hurt us willingly; and the second was his tones had edges of panic to them. Something awful had happened to Skeeve, and he wanted us to come to save his life.

We were quiet, all of us, almost as if we were taking a silence for the dead, but . . . Skeeve wasn't dead, was he? Thoughts of my previous mentor and what he was flashed through my brain and tears came to my eyes, though I had no reason for them. After all, Barry was driving very fast. Why would he if there was no hope?

I wasn't alone in feeling that way, though. I saw Bunny, in the front seat, rigid as a board and jaw so tight I'm surprised she didn't bleed. Tanda looked extremely worried, and Pookie looked angry, which basically just covered her own fear. Had we come all this way, accomplished so much, just to lose Skeeve?

We all jumped out as fast as possible from Barry's car, and he ran inside, us following on his heels and ignoring the people asking if they could help us.

Our fears weren't groundless. The first sight of Skeeve was horrible, considering we had seen him only about a day ago, and he had been so fit it wasn't funny. Now the poor guy was pale as paper and strange tubes were stuck in his nose and arm. Aahz didn't look good himself, as he sat in a chair looking over him, looking angrier than Pookie. When he saw all of us, he didn't make even one wisecrack. All he said was, "Pookie, hurry, give him the blood magic."

Pookie nodded and held Skeeve's hand, muttering a few words, and Skeeve's color returned. I think all of us breathed a collected sigh of relief when Aahz said, "I think he's stable now, but he'll be out for a little longer while his body brings his own blood back."

"What happened to him, anyway?" Bunny asked, having grabbed Skeeve's other hand and occupied the other side of the bed. It was hard for her to see him like this.

"Our greatest fan shot him," Aahz said, pointing at Barry, who looked sheepish.

"I thought I was doing my job. It's very important to our country to stop threats to it, and I believed in my job."

"It's alright," Bunny said: she was way more forgiving now as it seemed that Skeeve was just sleeping. A few minutes ago, though, Barry would have gotten a much worse reaction, something akin to cement shoes. "I know bodyguards. It's all over your face. You protect someone important, don't you?"

"That's my job and what I believe in." He looked a bit disappointed as he sighed. "I guess I'll leave you all then, as I'm probably not wanted here."

"Hey, idiot, you can stay," Aahz said. "You may have been the reason Skeeve almost died, but ever since you left I asked myself what I would have done in your shoes. It's no different, so you're welcome in here, especially since you seem to care just as much about Skeeve as we do." Then he smiled. "Well done, everyone."

"Better than you think, Hot Stuff," I said, relishing this moment. To think, I, Massha, would be the one to help restore Aahz's powers. I wasn't going to forget this for a long time, so I thought I'd drag it out.

"We got a cure for you," Pookie interrupted. So much for that idea, but Pookie completely ignored my glare. "It's not much, but it's amazing."

Aahz blinked a few times, as if he didn't quite understand what was just said, and we got more reaction out of an unlikely source. "A cure? Really? That's great!" Barry said enthusiastically. "After that rotten prank Garkin pulled on you, I was wondering if you'd ever be at the top of your game. Then you got Isstvan with it, and that was amazing. Of course, when Skeeve took on that army, it would have been useful if you had all your skills. Skeeve could have been killed, and when he thought you were, it was heartbreaking. I mean, how many times could Skeeve's near death experiences been averted had you just had your powers?"

Aahz gave him a closed smile, which was odd for him, and he was silent as he just stared at Skeeve's comatose form. Sometimes I wish I was a mind-reader, as it didn't look like Aahz was as excited as everyone else here that he was going to regain his powers. What was going on in his green little mind?


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

"_The end battle between good and evil should be impressive._"

God

Aahz

What I couldn't tell anyone there, was that I was wondering if I should just keep being powerless. What Barry said was true. How many times had Skeeve almost died because of me? Even here is a perfect example. If I had been nosier and asked what Skeeve was doing, he might not be almost dying now. Maybe I did deserve what the powers that be did to me.

"Aahz, don't do this," Tanda said in a soft voice next to my ear. "None of it was your fault."

"Maybe it all was," I muttered back. "I didn't save Skeeve here; Pookie did. All I did was—"

"Find him and get us here. Aahz, don't play the pity party. Skeeve wasted all this time, risked his life, so he could restore your powers. Do you really want this situation to be repeated because you are stubborn and feeling sorry for yourself?"

That's what I had found so attractive in Tanda once. She never pulled any punches, and she was right. I didn't want Skeeve to feel sorry for me and do what he did again. After all, this whole thing started because Skeeve had felt guilty about me, just like I'm doing now about him. Guilt! What a useless emotion. It was time I squashed it. "Alright, what's my cure?"

"This, right here," Massha exclaimed and brought out a brown bar. I was dubious, at best, and didn't take it right away.

"It works," Pookie said. "I lost my powers because of what the people here call healthy food. We think it's where Garkin obtained the stuff used on you in the first place, not where you thought he did."

I was about to take it, and just put my faith in this small thing, when Massha couldn't hand it to me anymore, as it was stone—she was, too. I don't know what had happened, but all massive flesh of hers had turned into just bulbous white stone. I looked towards Pookie for help, but, she, too, had turned into art, along with Bunny and Tanda. Oh, crap.

Garkin was here.

No, he wasn't here in the flesh. Rather, he had become what I'm guessing Skeeve had seen, and he did look like a ghost. I cursed Guido and Nunzio out mentally. Of course! They were bodyguards of the mob, never expecting that when a magician was asleep, they weren't really, and had a lot more power at their disposal—like turning people into stone.

"Hey, old buddy," I said casually, lounging a bit. There was no real reason to panic yet, as he hadn't turned me to stone, and that meant he couldn't, as I should have been the first on his list. "Keeping high spirits?"

"I guess my abilities don't work on a Pervert that has lost all his ties to the magical world."

"That's Pervect!" I corrected, promising myself mentally that I'd make him pay for that. "And, you also are aware of, I'm guessing, that you can't attack me physically in your ghostly state."

"No, you're right, but I can turn Skeeve into a statue as well. First, I'm going to make him one more offer of friendship, and I want you to stay out of it, or else I'll seal the deal now. Got me, old _friend_?"

I gritted my teeth, and did the only thing I could, which was to grab the hospital bed and wheel the comatose Skeeve out of range, running as fast as I could. Garkin was startled: he hadn't expected me to run, but he rallied quickly, and he could go through walls, after all. _Life's not fair,_ I thought, and picked up my speed, ignoring the people doing their best to get out of my way. I was trying to save Skeeve, so I wasn't too concerned about overly slow pedestrians. I saw what they called elevators here, and I broke the doors open, hoping there would be a car there. I was in luck, and I pushed the button for first floor after getting Skeeve inside.

Garkin rushed past, and hadn't seen where I went, but it was only a matter of time. _Face it, self,_ I thought with grim anger, _you can do nothing without powers._ If only I had taken that bar from Massha. But, oh well, would have, should have, could have—didn't! What to do?

I looked up to see Garkin floating down through the floors, scanning the area for me, and then he saw me. An extra burst of speed wasn't enough. It was too late—Garkin had Skeeve again. My old buddy seemed to have gotten tired of running, so he was going to go right to turning Skeeve into stone. Desperate, I scanned the area for anything that could help, but physical stuff was the only thing that met my gaze. Maybe I could throw that glass covered thing with all those chocolate bars at him . . . wait, bars?

Sure enough, the bar that Massha had offered me, before it and she got stoned, was inside. No more time for thinking, I smashed my entire hand through the glass and pulled out three bars, eating them all with wrapper in tact.

It was incredible! Within seconds, I felt all those force lines, like I was seeing again after years of being blind. I also saw what Garkin was utilizing to start the process of turning Skeeve into a statue. Not being gentle at all, I yanked what he had gathered away, sending him sprawling. Oh, at the same time I had put . . . let's just call it a tractor beam on his physical form and reunited the two, spirit and body. So, that's why he was now in a very undignified position on the floor, blinking in shock. Out of body experiences can do that to a man.

"Hello, Garkin," I said, smiling with all my teeth. It was time to show my old friend what it was like to mess with a Pervect—or me in general. To punish him, I first did an old blocking spell, that would keep him from doing any kind of magic, whether in astral form or not (Pookie didn't know how, or I would have had her do that in the first place), but it wasn't enough. That slime monger had taken away everything I had and left me stranded in an unkind dimension—then he kidnapped Skeeve! That was way worse, so I wanted him to suffer, without Skeeve as his slave, and without powers, in a dimension that would hunt him for his face.

So, I disguised him as Skeeve. I'm sure Barry would make sure Garkin never left his new prison, and he wouldn't be able to do anything without powers. My friends appeared in the elevator, Garkin's spells gone now, and I explained to Barry that the one in the bed was Skeeve, and Garkin, his new prisoner, was on the floor, looking stunned.

That was that, but there was one more thing that I was waiting for.

"Where am I?" Skeeve said from the bed, color back in his face, and he was sitting up, looking at his look alike with shock.

Skeeve was fine again!


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

"_Sometimes you have to accept that it's the end, folks_."

C. Dracula

Skeeve

It was a bit surreal to see "me" being shoved into a police car, but I was more than happy about it, especially hearing about what Garkin had done since I was blocked by him. It had all been a lie, and it is a strange thing when someone is so obsessed with you they will do so much to get you back. It should be flattering, I suppose, but, really, I was just glad when Barry ordered the police to take Garkin back to my holding cell.

Then Barry came over to me to shake my hand, looking at me now with hero worship in his eyes. I have never really liked that look, though it does give one a sense of heady power—that's probably why I don't like it! False power isn't anything useful.

"Well, sorry about shooting you, Skeeve," he said. "You're much cooler than even when I read about you."

I just smiled and nodded, wondering how being cold meant anything, a dum-dum question as Aahz would say, and, hey, I might not be any more knowledgeable about things, but the years have still taught me to keep my mouth shut instead of telling everybody about it. As anyone will tell you, that's the most intelligent lesson you can learn!

"Do you think you'll ever come back to Earth?"

"Sure," I responded, "just keep reading my books." Then I turned around to meet up with my friends, who Barry had just finished shaking their hands as well. "Shall we?"

We only had one day before the hole would close up completely, so we had to take the bus again to get back to the place where we ended up. I was at the back with Aahz. "Hey, Aahz," I said, "thanks a lot for saving me."

"I seem to do it a lot," he responded. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Well, a lot of it was because of Garkin telling me a lie, but the real reason was that I, alone, wanted to be the one who got your powers back." I looked away sheepishly. "It was my fault, in a way, that you lost them in the first place."

"And now, it's your fault, in a way, that I got them back," Aahz said casually, and I had to shake my head a few times. Did he just say . . .?

"What?"

He gave me one of those scary grins that I had gotten used to a long time ago.

"Snicker's . . . see? I'm going to make a lot of money selling them back home. 'Off world traveling? No need to fear as long as you have Aahz's special magic protecting bar!' What do you think?"

I just sighed, but inside I was smiling up a storm. Then a thought occurred to me. "Say, Aahz, you have your powers again . . . well, I know you never really finished your lessons with me, and I sure have a lot to learn, especially about fighting a ghost, so I was wondering . . . how about taking on an apprentice again?"

"Forget it, Skeeve. That nearly killed me the last time."

I was disappointed, but he continued.

"I have at least ten years of practicing to do, however, and I'm sure you don't feel as if you're done. What say we practice together? Hey, if you learn from me, I can't stop you."

That made me smile again, and the bus dropped us all off back at the alley, to find two very depressed bodyguards.

"We're so sorry, everyone," Guido said, "but we lost Garkin! Skeeve!" he added noticing me, giving a mob like hug, but then he looked even worse. "He just vanished."

"Don't worry, he's taken care of."

"We still failed," Nunzio said, looking as bad as his cousin.

"Not true," Aahz stated. "It gave us time to stop him from turning Skeeve into stone. You did everything you possibly could."

Guido looked shocked. "Did you just try to comfort me? I expect it from Skeeve, but you?"

"Like I can't be placating?" Aahz demanded, and I could tell a fight was starting to break out, but it didn't matter. We were all friends, and, now that Aahz had his powers again, everything was back to normal. I looked forward to learning more as I watched Aahz regaining all his skills, because . . . I wanted to see Earth again!

The hole was closing behind us as we traveled through, and I knew that the only way we'd ever see it again, was if Aahz could teach me about tweaking the dimension traveling spell. Somehow, though, I was sure we could figure it out.

Authors' Note: So, that's the end of our very first fan fiction. We hope you enjoyed it. Please review. If everyone really liked it, then there might be more. Until next time, then.


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